Author: Black-journal
Disclaimer: I own none of this
Rating: T (just to be safe)
Pairing: Sirius/Remus
Summary: What happened after Sirius escaped, without ever getting a chance to really talk to Remus?

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I realized the problem as soon as I made my way into the Shrieking Shack. Remus had no way of knowing when I was going to be here. It wasn't like him to miss an essential detail like that, and for a second, I thought that this was all some trap. At the thought, I immediately transformed back into my dog form. There was no chance taking risks when I didn't have to. 13 years in Azkaban did teach me a thing or two.

I'm not sure how long I was there - keeping track of time when you're a dog is pretty damn hard. Eventually, I heard footsteps, and I made sure I was concealed in my hiding place. Watching, I waited as the door opened, and I breathed a doggy sigh of relief as I saw Remus. I made my way out of the closet and transformed back into my body.

Remus looked initially alarmed at seeing me come out of nowhere, but a smile appeared on his face after a second. "You're as filthy as you were last time I saw you."

What kind of stupid comment was that? But it was completely like Remus. "Not so many chances to shower, you know. I'm sure your delicate sensibilities can stand my stink for a little while."

"I'm sure I'll survive." The smile faded for a second. "I can't stay here long, Sirius. I resigned after the year was out and I am supposed to be leaving in a few hours. We won't be able to meet here again."

I sighed. Somehow I wasn't surprised that fate was doing this. "Where are you going to go?"

Remus shrugged. "Anywhere that'll have me, I suppose. Getting harder and harder for werewolves to find employment these days. But I'm sure I'll find something...somewhere. Albus mentioned that he might be able to find some work for me, and I'll take whatever I can find." There was such a hopeless expression on his face that I just wanted to go over to him and hold him. Of course, I couldn't do anything of the sort.

But I wanted to. And that was enough. More or less. "You mentioned that Albus had made arrangements for me to live somewhere that wasn't a hole in the ground." A funny look appeared on Remus's face. "Wait...it IS better than a hole in the ground...right?"

Remus looked as if he were biting back laughter. "It's a cave..."

"Bloody hell, Remus!"

"Might I remind you, Sirius, that you're wanted by the whole wizarding world...and by the whole Muggle world? You're not going to be able to go and rent a flat somewhere."

I sighed. He did have a point. As usual. "Does it have a shower, at least?" I knew how ridiculous I sounded, but there is something to be said for a good, long, hot shower. Especially when one has been on the run for months. The dirt really does build up.

"Albus mentioned something about a stream..."

I raised an eyebrow. "A stream? Maybe it escaped your notice, but it's cold here. Really bloody cold. Do you have any idea how cold the water would be?"

"It looks like you have a choice to make...dashing good looks after cleaning or revolting before cleaning."

"Revolting?" I pretended to be hurt, but there was a smile on his face. I knew he didn't mean it.

"I mean that, you know."

Or maybe he did. "Well, if you were that concerned about my looks, you'd offer me a shower." That actually sounded like a really good idea.

"Right. I'll just pull one out of my back pocket."

Okay. Good idea. Maybe just a tad impractical.

"You do have a wand."

"So you want me to whip you up a shower?" Remus looked as though the idea were completely ludicrous. Whereas I saw it as only mildly so.

"If you're so concerned about my hygiene, I don't see why not."

Remus took out his wand and muttered a spell under his breath. Then he looked up at me and shook his head. "It's in the next room. Try not to take too long. This was supposed to be about us talking."

"Well, we could always talk in the shower." I couldn't help but flirt with him. It was something I had kept concealed for so long that I couldn't manage to do it very well anymore. "You're more than welcome to join me." I accompanied it with a lurid wink, hoping that he'd take it as a joke rather than the genuine offer that it was.

"Just hurry up."

It wasn't until I stepped into the shower and relaxed under wonderfully warm water that I realized that I had no clothes to change into. I certainly didn't want to go back to the filthy Azkaban rags. That kept me in the shower longer than I intended to, trying to figure out what to do. If I had a wand, I could charm some clothes onto my body. On that line of thought, I could always try to persuade Remus to do it for me.

But, frankly, I didn't trust my body to behave around Remus if I was naked. And I needed none of that kind of embarrassment.

"Have you drowned?" came an amused voice some time later.

"Oh yes...come and rescue me..." I replied, grinning.

The grin disappeared when Remus appeared. To his credit, he kept his eyes on my face. "No clothes?" he asked with a huge grin on his face.

"You realized?"

"Before I ever made you a shower."

Bastard. "So why'd you do it?"

"To see what you'd do."

"And how do you plan to fix it?"

"Why should I have to fix it?"

I had a mind to wipe that smile off his face, but I really wasn't sure how I could do that without thoroughly embarrassing myself. "Please, Moony, will you charm me some clothes?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Releasing me from my humiliation?"

"You forget that I might well enjoy that kind of thing."

This was decidedly not the Remus that I'd known all those years ago. He'd had 13 years to grow up and come out of his shell, and evidently he'd done that. Either that, or he was just having colossal amounts of fun at my expense. "Please, Remus, love of my life, kindly charm me some clothes before I hex you into next week."

"What gave you the idea that threats would do any good whatsoever? Besides, you don't have a wand." He stepped back from me and looked me up and down.

I had to fight very hard to control my body. Getting hard right now would just be too much for him to torment me with later. "Please, Remus. You said that you wanted to talk. I'm not going to talk to you until you charm me some clothes."

A wicked look appeared on his face. I hadn't known that he had that expression. It looked damn good on him. He took his wand out and flicked it once. I was dressed in a pink tutu.

For the record, I don't look very good like that.

I crossed my arms and scowled. It's one of my best expressions. "Remus Lupin, I'm warning you..."

"Haven't you learned that threats do you no good?"

I tried to stop scowling. But as a grown man in a tutu, that was harder than it sounded. "Please, Remus. I want to talk to you as well. So could you stop fooling around and give me some normal clothes? Please?" I wasn't above begging if I had to. Not to mention that it was getting harder to control myself. If Remus didn't hurry up and be a decent human being, he was going to regret it.

And so was I.

Thankfully, he seemed to have reached the same conclusion, flicked his wand again, and I found myself dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. That was good enough. "Thank you."

"You're most certainly welcome," said Remus. He then doubled over and burst into uncontrollable laughter. I wasn't inclined to join in with him.

"Can we just get around to talking?" This was not the Remus I used to know. I wasn't sure I liked this one.

It seemed as though Remus could sense something was wrong. He stopped laughing and smiled at me. With another flick of his wand, the shower disappeared behind me, and we went back into the other room, hopefully to talk.

I wanted to know what had made my Remus change so much over the years.